Referee:Lee
Probert - Gloucestershire-based whistler who turned down penalty appeals
from Davide Santon and Cisse and seemed reluctant to give many decisions
for robust challenges from the visitors.

It wasn't widely noted or reported but
there was a hasty rejig of the officials at half time following an injury
to linesman Simon Bennett. He was unable to continue and fourth official
Kevin Friend took over flag waving duties, with Mark Clattenburg coming
out of the crowd to become the fourth official.

As a Tyneside-based, self-confessed
Newcastle fan, he's unable to referee any competitive games involving
United but has taken charge of kickabouts - notably the Alan Shearer
Testimonial v Celtic in 2006.

PS: We've now failed to win the last six
games this referee has officiated: 2011/12: Spurs (h) (2-2), Liverpool (a)
(1-3) and Brighton (a) FAC (0-1) 2010/11: Fulham (h) (0-0), Manchester
United (h) 0-0. Before that, Probert handled the 3-0 victory over Reading
during the 2007/08 season.

Crowd: 48,245
- a small away contingent contributed to that figure but it's still over
4,000 down on the Spurs attendance - and unlike this game, that was
televised in the UK.

Two games in three days possibly meant that for some it was a straight
choice between this game and the cheaper Europa fixture.

Goals

22 mins
A Villa corner was eventually cleared as far as Matthew Lowton midway down
the vistor's right flank and he played a short pass infield to Ron Vlaar.
The Dutchman in turn pumped forward a
crossfield ball that Ciaran Clark jumped to nod on, ahead of Danny Simpson.

Simpson then scurried towards the corner flag as Barry Bannan took
possession, but successfully made himself as small as possible to allow the
Villa man to swing over a centre that the unmarked Clark headed home
from a central position five yards out.

Messrs Taylor, Gutierrez and Coloccini left glaring at each other close by,
while Santon at the back post had tracked back but failed to pick up anyone.
0-1

Half time: Magpies 0 Villans 1

22 mins
United made their way across the halfway line through Anita, who dug out a deep
cross from the right towards Ba who was lurking in a central position on the
edge of the area with his back to goal. Wrestled out of the way by Vlaar, his
clearing header looped up and then bounced nicely for Hatem Ben Arfa to
latch on to, some 20 yards from goal.

Brett
Holman invited the Frenchman to cut onto his right foot which he did and smashed
an unstoppable drive into the top right corner of the Gallowgate net.
Simply stunning 1-1
Full time:
Magpies 1 Villans 1

We
Said

Alan Pardew commented:

"We have to be happy with a point; a
lot of things went wrong for us but we didn't give in, we changed things
around and just about deserved a draw. We weren't quite right and we let
an opportunity slip.

"Having said that, we won't have many sides here this season who work
as hard as Villa, so give them credit. But the bottom line was that we
didn't deserve to win, given the indifference of our display.

"There are two teams on the pitch - sometimes you have to say the
other team were better than us, and they were. They controlled the game
and got a grip of it. They were faster than us and quicker than us. They
were quicker into the tackle, and that’s how the Premier League is. We
fell on them at a bad time.

"Don’t underestimate that they’re a bad side just because they
got beat twice - iIt doesn’t work like that. From our point of view, we
weren’t as I wanted. The set-plays were poor and there were one or two (players)
below par.

"The team lacked a little bit of cohesion - it happens occasionally.
Sometimes you just have to take a draw and move on. We looked flat. We
actually looked brilliant in training, and I really thought we were going
to have a great day. That is football for you – it never pans out for
you.

"I do think we’ve had a decent start. Four points from those six
games isn’t the worst total. We’ve qualified for Europe, and we now
move on to our next game.

"He's (Bigirimana) 18, it's his first top-flight game, we
weren't playing well, I took a gamble. But he's paid me back because he
was as good as anybody on the pitch.

"It was a (hamstring) strain and I don’t think Danny (Simpson)
will make that (Everton) game.

"We brought Vurnon in purely because he is so versatile - he went to
right-back, he's comfortable there, he got two great headers and some of
his forward passing took us up another notch. I thought he was terrific.

"He grabbed it by the horns and looked comfortable all game. We have
three right-backs here – how many right backs do we need?

"We're hoping to have Chieck (Tiote) back for the Everton
game. I think we're missing him, we're missing his drive and everything
about him. He's a big player for us and we're looking forward to getting
him back in a black and white shirt.

"We weren't quite right today. Some of our players aren't bang in
form and I need to get to grips with that.

"I have some sympathy for the players. They get people, agents who
aren't even their own, ringing them up and promising them the world. There
are some terrible people in and around the game.

"If somebody says they can get a deal done which is going to double
your money, it's going to affect you."

They
Said

Paul Lambert:

"I thought we were excellent throughout to be fair, offensively and
defensively. It was a wonder goal which pegged us back but the way we played -
the football we played - was very good. They were excellent.

"You have to remember they are young!
But I have nothing but praise for them. The experienced ones too, every one of
them in fact, were excellent. I'd rather play football then not. I know you've
got to win as many games as you can but I would prefer to play.

"We have really good footballers in the
team. If we keep playing like that and keep working as hard as that? It's a
start for us. We're getting stronger.

"Overall, I just thought we were
excellent throughout the game at a place where it's really tough to get anything
from. We were well worth something, that's for sure!

"They will get better each week and
every game. Their enthusiasm for the game is brilliant and we have some really
talented footballers too."

"I just thought it was the right
decision for the football club (to drop Shay Given). Brad (Guzan) made
two world-class saves - the free-kick at the end and the one in the first half.
His handling of the game was fantastic. It was a big call but that's the game.

"I just try and pick a team that I
think will win a game. That's all I can do. Shay is a brilliant goalkeeper,
there's no two ways about it. I had a chat with him the other day."

Stats

The Magpies are still looking for their 1,000th Premier League goal
since Coventry City captain Peter Atherton turned a Liam O'Brien free
kick ball past his own 'keeper Jonathan Gould at Highfield Road in
August 1993. Hatem Ben Arfa's special effort today was number 999 and
the 612th at SJP (meaning 387 have been scored away from home.
Obviously).

That's now 9 goals that HBA has scored for United in all
competitions:

Having set them the target of two wins from successive home games in four
days, Alan Pardew's side came up short at the second time of asking - and
shorn of yet another full back, making it three casualties in quick
succession since we tempted fate by opting not to strengthen in that area.

Losing the hamstrung Danny Simpson after the knock to James Perch and the
more serious injury to Ryan Taylor meant that Vurnon Anita was quickly
called upon to demonstrate his positional versatility (and justify the
sniggers caused by the comment in his first interview about coming here to
play midfield. That's what they told you, bonny lad....)

That forced alteration though may have upped his contribution to
proceedings, with the Dutchman looking happier in a wider role and perhaps
benefiting from having slightly more time on the ball as he continues to
make the transition from the slightly less frantic pace of the Eredivisie.

He and Davide Santon on the opposite flank were among our better performers
on a day when too many of our big hitters failed to find form and our
pattern of play suffered accordingly: a lack of movement accompanied by some
artless upfield hoofs conjuring up unpleasant flashbacks of Jack Charlton's
Whitehurst/Cunningham misadventure of the 1980s. Tiote continues to be much
missed.

And as acknowledged later by the manager, our
set pieces also left much to be desired, with corners invariably failing to
clear the first defender or being hoofed way beyond the far post. However in
amongst the swine there was a pearl - or an absolute pearler to be
precise.

Before Ben Arfa's latest exocet, our match highlight had been the half time
rendition of Morrissey's miserablist anthem "Everyday is Like
Sunday", as two disjointed sides struggled to make an impression
and largely fluffed what chances they conjured up.

The referee meanwhile did little to prevent a typical Paul Lambert side from
leaving their foot in and tapping ankles, while seemingly instructing his
linesmen to restrict themselves to indicating offsides and throw-ins.

Aside from the new/old role for Anita, the enforced reshuffle brought a
top-flight bow for Gael Bigirimana rather more quickly than he - and we -
might have expected. Whether it proves to be a bold decision that will fast
track the teenager's career remains to be seen, but we were just worried on
his behalf in case he made an error that irked the crowd and knocked his
confidence (David Beharall, anyone?).

Needing to adjust to the pace of the top flight game, Bigi did show flashes
of the passing prowess that we've already seen, while he also made one
timely intervention late on to deny ex-mackem Darren Bent. Like Adam
Campbell, it's important to keep some perspective. Nurture is the
word.

In one of too few memorable moments, Bent was the victim of a
stinging assault by Ben Arfa - our man finding Bent's hooter with stunning
accuracy when hoofing the ball at him from close range. It earned an
unexpected corner and left Bent dazed and in need of treatment. Cheered us
up though.

Lambert meanwhile introduced Charles
N'Zogbia from the bench and his arrival was greeted with the inevitable
"greedy" chants from home supporters. And with Shay Given dropped
to the bench, the only other ex-Magpie in evidence was former loanee/shirker Stephen
Ireland - who maintained the form that has taken him to the edge of
obscurity by missing the target late on when well-placed.

Sylvain Marveaux and Gabriel Obertan appeared as substitutes for the closing
stages, but deliveries from both never looked likely to produce a late
winner; even if the latter did almost live up to his billing as an impact
substitute down the right flank and looked to have some fire in his belly,
for once.

Demba Ba was withdrawn despite looking far more threatening than fellow
striker Papiss Cisse (it did occur to us that Pardew took the view that Ba
was wasting his time staying on, with Probert intent refusing to give
anything in his favour).

And salvation so nearly came in the final
seconds of five added
minutes, when Guzan clawed away Yohan Cabaye's seemingly perfect 30-yard
free-kick. Had Given been between the posts, then it's doubtful that he
would have reached it.

Four points from the first three games is certainly no
disaster, even if the overall performance today was as dispiriting as
Thursday's stumble into the Group Stages. Our progress in 12 months means
that we risk becoming the victims of raised expectations, but it's important
to retain a sense of proportion round these parts, even if clowns elsewhere
are quick to leap to conclusions and rubbish the same set of players they
fawned over last season.

A year ago, ten of the fourteen players on show here today played out the
most mediocre of 0-0 draws at QPR. That result may have extended our
unbeaten start to the season, but came amid a sombre atmosphere
prompted by an unsatisfactory end to the transfer window and some
genuine gloom as to our future prospects. That all seems like a long time
ago, thankfully.

Looking for positives in 2012, the spirit which was manifest in the whole
team taking to the field clad in tracksuit tops emblazoned with
"Ryan Taylor Over the Wall" (Captain Colo's idea) has seen us twice recover from conceding a goal at home
to get back on level terms. Not playing well but not losing is an attribute
we've possessed on far too few occasions round these parts over the years.

We'll never know whether, as alleged, United turned down big money for their
stars (if so, obviously not big enough to meet our price tags). Whatever the
whys or wherefores though, the hysteria and hyperbole of the transfer window
is now behind us again. High time for an outbreak of football.